Creigh Deeds’ Silence on Cap-and-Trade is Deafening

Creigh Deeds may not be physically AWOL like his buddy Tim Kaine, but on the horrendous job-killing monstrosity that is the cap-and-trade bill, Creigh’s been, well, AWOL. Not a peep from this purported moderate. This bill is an unmitigated disaster for energy producers, including the coal producers here in VA. Maybe Deedsy thinks he can get to the governorship by voting “present” on cap-and-trade. (I guess that has worked before.)

RPV’s crack communications staff, fresh off exposing Tim K-WOL’s travels around the country for the DNC on taxpayers’ dime, put out this press release earlier today, asking Deeds if he could maybe take a stand on, you know, the biggest threat to Virginia’s energy producers since forever. I’m not holding my breath to hear Deeds’ response.

– MeadWestvaco Among Businesses to be Devastated, Located in Deeds’ Senate District –

RICHMOND – Republican Party of Virginia Chairman Pat Mullins today repeated his call for Creigh Deeds to reveal his position on the massive energy tax boondoggle known as “Cap-and-Trade” following its approval in the U.S. House of Representatives Friday evening. Governor Tim Kaine released a glowing statement in his role as Chairman of the Democratic National Committee after five Virginia Democratic members of the House voted in favor of the bill. All five Virginia Republican members voted correctly, opposing the job-killing bill.

“Creigh Deeds is running as the heir-apparent to Tim Kaine,” Mullins said. “The governor has now publicly praised the scheme and five elected representatives of his party voted in favor of it. Deeds has to say where he stands. This is a legitimate question for a guy who wants to follow in Kaine’s footsteps.”

The bill, deceptively titled the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES Act, H.R. 2454) proposes a “Cap and Trade” scheme in which entities that exceed a government-imposed emission limit would be forced to buy “credits” from entities which emit amounts under the limits. Most analysts and employers have concluded that the idea would increase costs to consumers and severely limit the ability of private companies to create jobs.

Last week, Mark George, Vice President of the MeadWestvaco plant in Covington, wrote a commentary piece in the Richmond Times-Dispatch expressing grave concern over the environmental monstrosity. “‘If the ACES Act passes Congress, MeadWestvaco’s Covington mill operations, which provide 1,500 jobs in the Alleghany Highlands, will definitely be one of the losers. The economic future for our area will be severely impacted,’” George wrote (Kill the Climate Bill: Legislation Ignores Critical Factors…,” Richmond Times-Dispatch, June 25, 2009).

“You’d think that Creigh Deeds would want to reassure his constituents, since I’m sure he knows that MeadWestvaco is a major employer right there in his own Senate District,” RPV Chairman Mullins said. “There are 1,500 families that are now concerned about their economic future thanks to this crazy legislation. But their State Senator is too afraid to take a stand.”

The bill passed the House late Friday by a vote of 219-to-212 (Roll Call Vote 477). Five Virginia Democrats voted in favor of the legislation: Rep. Bobby Scott (3rd), Rep. Tom Perriello (5th), Rep. Jim Moran (8th), Rep. Rick Boucher (9th) and Rep. Gerry Connolly (11th). Governor Kaine immediately released a statement praising the passage under the flag of the Democratic National Committee.

“I want to congratulate President Obama for his outstanding leadership and Speaker Pelosi, Majority Leader Hoyer, Chairman Waxman and Congressman Markey for their role in taking this historic step,” Kaine said.

“It’s pretty obvious that Governor Kaine is following the direct orders of his patron in the White House, while the other Virginia Democrats are heeding the directives of their national party leaders,” Chairman Mullins said. “What’s the view from where Creigh Deeds sits? Will he toe the DNC line or will he stand up for workers in his own district?”

A study by the Tax Foundation showed that the Cap and Trade system would place an annual burden of $144.8 billion on American household, or more than $1,200 on the average family. (Andrew Chamberlain, “Who Pays for Climate Policy? New Estimates of the Household Burden and Economic Impact Of A U.S. Cap-And-Trade System,” Tax Foundation Working Paper #6, March 3, 2009)

It would reduce the American Gross Domestic Product by $350 billion and kill 2.5 million jobs, even accounting for any new “green” jobs, found a study by the National Black Chamber of Commerce (NBCC Press Release, June 24, 1009)

Roy Innis, Chairman of the Congress of Racial Equality, one of the nation’s older civil rights organizations, appealed to Congress to reject the idea because it would harm working class and poor families.

“In my 40-plus years as the Chairman of CORE, I have seen few federal bills that would do more harm to America’s working class and low-income citizens and families than the Waxman-Markey climate tax bill,” Innis wrote to Members of Congress. “In fact, an underlying goal of this legislation is the morally repugnant concept that constricting sources of domestic energy and raising energy costs is a good thing because it will force conservation by consumers. That elitist view assumes that poor, working class families have the ability to bear that ‘social cost.’”

Republican opposition to the bill was led by Minority Leader Rep. John Boehner (Ohio), who argued that the bill would radically affect the economy, job creation and the individual freedoms of American citizens.

“Speaker Pelosi’s national energy tax is a bureaucratic nightmare that will cost families more than ever for electricity, gasoline, food, and other products, and cost millions of American workers their jobs,” Boehner said. “This is a tax on anyone who drives a car, buys an American-made product, or flips on a light switch. It will drive up energy costs, send millions of jobs overseas to countries like China and India, and place an especially heavy burden on rural America.”

“Virginians know that Bob McDonnell is standing firmly against this economic disaster of a plan,” said Chairman Mullins. “They ought to know where Deeds stands.”